Help! Rescued A Duckling First Time Taking Care Of A Duck!! PART 2

[LittleHelpHere]

OK, so I've previously posted on this forum asking for help on taking care of a muscovy duckling I rescued. His mommy came back so he's living happily ever after. Today one of the muscovy ducks appeared with two extra ducklings (who of course were being pecked). After grueling long hours of chasing and attempts at separating and even crawling under bushes and cars in the rain, my brother and I managed to snatch the two. Whether they're siblings or not we don't know but they're certainly bigger then the last duckling I rescued. I gave them strawberry paste (mashed strawberries) , water, and chopped up Vienna sausages. I don't know how old they are but I'll post a picture as soon as I get the camera on. Any tips? Why do they keep running away?!

 

[Amiga]

Hi!

I'm not sure exactly what the situation is. But it sounds like there are two ducklings who were having a hard time. But they were with an adult muscovy . . . was the adult pecking them? And they were running away. From you? Just be patient with me, I'm trying to get the dynamics here.

The ducklings need to be relatively warm (probably 75F or so but with a way to move to a cooler location), out of direct drafts, safe from other animals. They need water 24/7 but may splash it around so you might need to work on ways to keep the rest of their bedding mostly dry.

They also need food available 24/7 for the first several weeks. Is there a feed store near you? They'll need small grit or time outdoors to get their own so they can process food.

They need to be able to wash their faces, either by swimming in shallow lukewarm water or having a small container deep enough to push their heads in but not so large they could go in unattended and drown. But at their age, that may not be a concern any more, except that if they can get in, they must be able to get out (every now and then a duck gets into deep water and cannot get out, and they can drown).

Do some searches on BYC forum here on brooder, and you may get some good information for first-timers.

 

[La Mike]

Taking them from the mother is not rescueing them.They should have been left with the mother.

 

[desertdarlene]

I take it that this is a similar situation as before where the ducklings were tagging along with another family that wasn't theirs.

If possible, you might want to try to return them to the right family like you did before. The reason why they run away from you is that they're feral and you appear to be a predator in their eyes.

How bad was the pecking? If it's just a little nip and chasing, then they would have been OK. It's normal social behavior with ducklings and families. If it looked like the other ducklings/adults were going to kill it, then you did the right thing.

I would do as Amiga suggest in terms of heat and food if you are planning to keep them.

 

[LittleHelpHere]

They went with the wrong family and it was some serious pecking. I don't know where the mother is because they just appeared out of nowhere. I tried to pick one up and calm him down like I did with the previous rescue duckling, but he just scratched and pooped on me

Is it too late to try to tame them? No I DID NOT take them from their mother. I know this because they were bigger than her own ducklings and were being pecked a lot. She was clearly trying to kick them out of her brood. There are several duck mothers around my neighborhood because we have a massive lake and I have a big shady tree in my yard. So its possible that they go with the wrong mom. I'm not planning to keep them of I can return them back safely. Their 3rd brother (stray duckling) is now following a male duck (who I've nicknamed Mr. Bachelor) around and tries to enter any nearby brood (unsuccessfully of course) I can't go out to catch him right now because its night time but I'll try tomorrow. Hopefully he can get through the night himself. WHAT DO I DO ABOUT POOP?! I pick them up they poop. I put them down they poop. I give them water they poop. I walk by they poop. How can you guys stand the smell and try to snuggle with them?

 

[DuckLover2399]

Well what most people let them poop on them I know I did

 

[desertdarlene]

Ducks poop all the time, they can't help it. The best way to deal with it is to keep their brooder clean (an almost constant battle

)and have a towel or some other object between you and the duckling when you handle them. Otherwise, just clean up whenever they poop outside their box.

I don't think it's too late to tame them if you plan to keep them. Just keep giving them treats (there's a list here in this forum about good treats for ducks) and handling them.